Finnish tech company Jolla announced the release details of its mobile operating system Sailfish for the Sony Xperia X. As of October 4th, the OS is available for purchase to select Jolla customers who have previously backed the Jolla Tablet, and the software will become widely available for download on Wednesday, October 11th. At the moment, Sailfish OS is only available for the Sony Xperia X and can be acquired only in the European Union, as well as Norway and Switzerland.
Sailfish OS is a Linux-based mobile operating system developed by Jolla, initially shipped with the Jolla smartphone and later powering the rather short-lived Jolla tablet. To be precise, this is not a modified version of Android OS, but rather an entirely new mobile platform created by the Finnish company in 2013. Since its early creation, Sailfish OS received numerous updates, with the version 2.1.2.3 arriving earlier this month as the most recent build. Now, although Jolla initially shipped Sailfish OS alongside its own hardware, the Jolla phone is no longer manufactured, and the crowdfunded Jolla tablet has also been canceled following component supply difficulties. Nevertheless, the company’s software earned quite a few fans along the way and Jolla began repurposing the OS for existing smartphones manufactured by other OEMs. The first third-party smartphone to officially support Sailfish OS is the Sony Xperia X released in mid-2016 running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. The device received the Nougat update and is planned for Android 8.0 Oreo, but Sony Xperia X owners who may want to experience an entirely new mobile operating system are now also capable of doing so.
Sailfish OS is not free but comes with a price tag of €49.90. For that price, customers will receive the Sailfish OS package ready to be flashed on the Sony smartphone and will take advantage of guaranteed software updates and Jolla’s customer care service for one year. The platform offers support for Android applications, predictive text input, and Microsoft Exchange. For the time being, the only customers eligible for pre-purchasing the operating system are those who have previously backed the crowdfunded Jolla Tablet and received a refund voucher following the project’s cancellation. Other prospective customers who don’t meet these requirements will be able to acquire the OS beginning next week.